February 24, 2017
Friday, Week Seven, Year I
The Seductive Power of Culture
When we see how things go on this earth and the
paths that people follow, what overwhelms us is the seductive power of culture.
Children grow up in Christian homes. Their
parents have the faith and form them in it. But once out of the house, the
youth stop going to Mass. The last thing on earth youth want to hear is that
they are “conformists.” But in fact, their behavior is predictable. They will
conform to the attitudes, values and behavior of their peer group. First in
college; later in business and politics.
They were taught that Jesus is the Way, the
Truth and the Life. But in fact, they follow the way of the world, accept the
truth as filtered through their society, and their life is like everyone
else’s.
Like everyone’s in their peer group, that is;
they think they are free and different, but they are only free from the truth
the Church teaches and different from the peer group of their parents. They
swallow uncritically the assumptions of their chosen environments and blend
into the scenery. They don’t stand out.
Sirach
6:5-17 is
realism. If we think we are free spirits we are naïve. It is true we form
ourselves as persons by our choices; that is what makes each of us unique. But
it is also true, although not admitted, that our choices are all influenced,
and most of them pre-determined, by the communal choices of our culture. So Sirach says, “Choose your friends.” When we choose our friends, we are in fact
choosing our way of life, whether or not we are aware of it. Do you find this
hard to accept?
Language: what words do you find
acceptable and why? Dress: who chose
the image you are projecting? Food and
drink: how original are your habits? Spending:
what are your thought-out priorities? Family
life: How is yours visibly different from others; what sets the daily
schedule? Housing: what is the “right” kind of neighborhood? Work: what determined your choice of
career? Work-ethic: whose rhythm are
you dancing to? Reading: who are your
favorite authors? Conversation: what
do you talk about? Avoid talking about? Morality:
What is acceptable: in your work, social life, political choices? Does your
behavior raise eyebrows among your peers? Make them uncomfortable?
“When you
gain friends, first test them. And be not too ready to trust them.” What
determines their values? What truths are the foundation for their attitudes?
Where are they leading you?
“There are
friends, boon companions, who will not be with you when sorrow comes.” When
you become an alcoholic. Pregnant. Deprived of a God you know how to deal with.
Without a faith to pass on to your children. When you realize your life is
meaningless; empty. When your soul desires to soar. Who will you talk to?
“Faithful
friends are a life-saving remedy; those who fear the Lord will find them.”
If you stay in bounds you will make friends with those you meet there. And
vice-versa.
“Those who
fear the Lord behave accordingly. And their friends will be like them.”
Like attracts like. If your standards are clear, you will bond with people who
support them. This leads to “communion in the Holy Spirit.”
“Guide me,
Lord, in the way of your commands.” He will, if we choose friends who will
walk with us.
Meditation:
Is my
lifestyle different from that of my friends? Why is that?
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